The games are direct emulated editions of the original classics and are not upgraded or tweaked as in past compilations such as Sonic Jam. The GameCube controller maps to the old Sega Genesis pad surprisingly well, with the control pad or the control stick used to control Sonic and friends while the old A, B, and C buttons have been mapped to B, A, and X respectively. The Z button stops the emulation of the game and offers a chance to exit, resume, or reset to the game's title screen. The L, R, and Y buttons do nothing during gameplay.

Rumors on video gaming sites have placed Sonic CD and a few other Sonic Team games in the set as hidden bonuses, so only time will tell if these prove to be accurate. For the record Sonic Team has denied that Sonic CD is on the set because the game took up too much space to be included and the Sega CDemulation was buggy and not up to the usual Sega standards. The confirmed hidden games are unlocked by playing the other games on the set a preset number of times and include...